Her Story
by August Harry
Summary: Mei and Himeko have been an inseparable pair of life companions since born until one day Yuzu walked in. Yuzu's presence is rather unnerving to Himeko and yet she can't bring herself to hate the girl. Because she knows that Yuzu is struggling as much as she is. What will await the two girls at the end, or the three girls, for that matter?
1. Chapter 1 - Cause of despair

It was an odd evening.

Class was just let out so Mei was headed for the student council room, whereas everyone else was leaving the school premises.

It's normally around 5 PM when Mei arrives at the council room on Wednesdays. Mei found herself alone in the room, let herself be seated, and started working on a pile of documents on the table without hesitation.

It was the season where each club hands in their financial reports so the council can monitor clubs' monetary activities.

Naturally, going through financial documents takes time and effort and everyone in the council often finds themselves depressed seeing their work keep piling up.

Mei was one of few who doesn't seem disturbed by what they call 'forcefully assigned insanity.'

Even though hard-working attitude is greatly valued in Japan, Mei's obsession toward her duty seemed extraordinary even to the fellow members of the council, so everyone kept the distance from her, either knowingly or unknowingly. And Mei's never expected any better from others, either.

Time quickly went by and it was already past 8, but Mei never even flinched from her seat. Normally she stops around 7 and heads home, but today she did not seem to be following her routine.

That was when she heard a sigh across the table. Mei noticed someone else was in the room.

There was another member who didn't seem to mind this hectic season besides Mei, none other than Mei's oldest friend, Himeko.

'Working hard is our duty as the members of the student council' was her catch-phrase and being the vice-president, she always did her best to relieve the president from constant workload.

But in reality, Himeko simply enjoyed being right beside Mei. Whatever the assigned task might be, it was all pleasant excuse for her to be with Mei even a little longer.

This was how things have been for Mei and Himeko since they joined the council and it was Himeko's tiny wish that they could lead the rest of their school years just as they were at the moment.

Two best friends doing things together as two best friends.

That was why Himeko was immensely distressed when Yuzu stepped in between their (arguably, yet very strongly insisted) most beautiful friendship.

Himeko just could not understand why Mei said "Don't worry, I'll handle it" when she caught the blonde on her wrongdoing. Himeko did not like it when she saw Mei's expression gradually soften since Yuzu appeared.

It was an absolute disaster discovering Mei and Yuzu recently became step-sisters, and they cohabitate.

Mei and I have known each other since born.

Nobody can come between us, not even Mei's spouse-to-be, let alone that damned blonde.

All Himeko was supposed to feel was anger.

But what she was left with was abyssal sadness, and uncontrollable devastation.

It was a feeling that was somewhat familiar to Himeko.

It was a feeling that she had wished she would never have to deal with again. It was the worst feeling she was aware of. For the second time of her life, since Mei's loss of her mother, Himeko felt powerless.

She actually wanted to cry but restrained herself and just sighed, before she remembered she wasn't alone in the council room.

.

.

.


	2. Chapter 2 - Home

"Himeko...it's late, you should go home."

Mei directed her attention to the other girl, sounding somewhat chastising.

That brought Himeko out of her depressing trance and of her earlier stoic expression.

"As should you," responded Himeko, with a soft and inviting smile. That smile was the one thing Himeko wanted to provide Mei with. She knew Mei never smiles. She always wanted Mei to see her smile and maybe to smile back time to time 'Because I care about Mei. Because Mei's my dearest childhood friend, and because she's the one who will always be in the deepest part of my heart,' was what Himeko had been telling herself.

Mei looked at her friend smiling and sighed.

"...Alright, let's go. Leave things as is. We'll finish the rest and clean up the room tomorrow."

Mei quickly packed her things and looked around to check if she was missing anything, and left the room, before Himeko followed Mei. It was really dark out, being it 8:20 at night.

Mei took her phone out and dialed.

"Mom? I'm heading home-Nono, it's ok, I'll just eat the leftover-that won't be necessary-uh huh-alright...I'll see you at home."

Mei hung up and sighed.

Himeko grinned at Mei.

"What did your mother say?"

Mei looked back.

"She's just left work and is heading home as we speak. She says she'll cook once she gets home."

"And you said no."

"And she insisted."

Mei didn't seem pleased.

Himeko couldn't help but chuckle a bit, and looked at her best friend adoringly.

It took about 20 minutes for them to get home by would have taken the bus but neither said anything about it and just walked.

It was a long day at school for them, but they knew they would not get any rest at home either. Once home, they would get changed asap, wash, and go straight to their study. That short amount of time on their way home was the only time they could stop...and remember who they were.

And like the past few days, a befallen despair with the name of Yuzu was about to creep in on Himeko.

'God, everyday, I just HAVE TO remind myself of this damned blonde delinquent. Give me a break!'

As tired as she was, frowning was blatant, not to be lost by Mei.

"Hime chan?" Mei asked with a questioning look.

"Wha, what? Oh, umm, I'm alright."

'Did she just call me Hime chan? Last time I was called that we were like 7!'

That got Himeko in a better mood.

"Hey, Mei?"

Asked Himeko with an inviting smile.

"Yea?"

"Can we walk home tomorrow too?"

"...Sure...I'd like that."


	3. Chapter 3 - End of childhood

Himeko arrived at home and went up to her room immediately. There was so much study to do. She tried to focus for an hour or 2 but she was too tired, and distracted by the thoughts of Mei. Eventually she found herself drifting away from her study, so she gave up and lay on the bed. Himeko's mind slowly made its way to sometime around 9 years ago.

Mei's mom was a company worker. She was indeed a mechanical engineer at a company called Kawasaki. She was a woman with a very high-functioning brain and was very capable in various ways. Her existence was personally inspiration and great motivation to Himeko. She was worth looking up to.

She was still as busy with her job as before she had Mei, if not more, but she tried her best to be a proper mother. During weekdays Mei' mom came home too late for Mei to be awake, so usually every Saturday morning she would greet Mei with a hug and kisses and grab her hand saying she loves Mei. And she would take Mei to a peaceful park,a river with ducks swimming in it, or wherever they can spend their time walking while talking. She also loved to take Mei to malls and department stores to pick her princess' clothes. She would let Mei choose her own clothes and whatever Mei picks one, she would let her try them on and see her in each one adoringly. She felt a bit disappointed to have a care-taker other than herself for Mei, and wanted to remind Mei that she'd be always there for her. Oftentimes she had trouble falling asleep on Friday because she was too elated, after a long week, to greet her daughter and hear her say hi mom in the morning. Over all, she was a caring and loving mother.

Until one rainy Friday, on her way home excited to go see her daughter, maybe too excited for her own good, a taxi decided to jump into the street out of nowhere, hit Mei's mother, left her on the ground for the short last minutes of her life with no rescue coming until it was too late.

Attending her own mother's funeral, Mei didn't show a single drop of tear in her eyes. She had no expressions on her face. Mei couldn't realize that her mother was everything to her, as her heart was already frozen at the time so she wouldn't feel a huge hole inside her. She couldn't feel it, yet it was still there. Himeko saw all that happening to Mei, and also saw the abyss inside her. Himeko was scared to see her best friend turning into something non-human. She cried. She felt powerless not being able to help Mei.

A drop of tear rolled down Himeko's cheek while half asleep. It never ceased to amaze Himeko that the memory never fails to bring tears to Himeko's eyes. Eventually tears went dry and soon Himeko was sound asleep.


	4. Chapter 4 - Chance meeting

Saturday morning.

The weather was nice out, unlike Himeko's mood.

"God, not this again..." Himeko murmured waking up slowly.

So it has become rather a funny routine that she wakes up every morning and immediately thinks about Mei feeling great, but then exactly in 3 seconds Yuzu appears in her mind to ruin whatever mood Himeko was in.

A daily emotional rollercoaster it was. Yes, very funny, but not very much so to Himeko. What made it worse was the fact that today was Saturday.

There was no school on Saturday which meant having fun or relaxing to everyone else, but to Himeko it just meant she won't see Mei today.

School days were when Himeko had control of everything, things happen before her eyes and she could take care of them. She could also at least try to keep Yuzu and Mei apart.

But on weekends, everyone's at home and that meant Mei and Yuzu were getting a lot of sweet time together.

These feelings were very real to Himeko, and she wasn't ready to find out what exactly she was feeling for Mei. But reality(or Yuzu) didn't give her enough time to process and figure out what it is she was feeling and what was needed for her to make her way out of this misery and be a person again.

Yes, the whole thing felt just too unrealistic that she lost control of her life and forgot who she even was. Everyone said she's different now and shows more 'humanly emotions' than before in a good way, but really all she wanted was just be herself again.

In fact, all that above is to describe just how 'she's in love and it's driving her crazy.' But it took her good 3 months getting her complicated feelings down into that one sentence.

Himeko had her own good reasons to panic like this. Mei has changed, since Yuzu appeared. It's not like Mei was head over heels for Yuzu and suddenly did not care about the friendship she had with Himeko. Indeed, she felt very lucky Mei wasn't like that.

Himeko desperately needed something to distract herself from all this touchy and hurting feeling. It was Saturday for heaven's sake. So she decided to get outside and go to a mall or something. Himeko decided she would do just that.

Weather was moderate for early April and air was clean with sapphire smeared in the sky. It was refreshing to be out. The mall Himeko usually goes was about 20 minutes away by train from the station near her house. Everything seemed to be going fine and Himeko's mood was slowly getting better.

"Vice pres, hey!"

Oh that voice, that damned voice again. Right about when Himeko just managed to forget about the owner of the voice.

Irritated, Himeko frowned, checking her phone as to insist the voice wasn't real.

"HEY, what gives? You can't just straight up ignore people like that!"

'Oh god, so this is real, on a nice Saturday, out of all the people I could have encountered, I had to come across Aihara Yuzu. Fine, life, we can play this game as long as you want.'

Himeko slowly raised her head to meet Yuzu's goofy and stupid face (why the hell does she look so glad to see me) and...Mei?

"Himeko."

Mei called her name quietly as she normally does in student council room. Himeko felt electrocuted for a moment to hear the voice of her beloved friend.

"MEI, hi, where are you going?"

"We are headed for the mall."

"Really? Wow, that's great I was going to Mall too. Can I come with you, Mei?"

Himeko said so with pleading poppy eyes. She really, really needed this right now.

"Sure, you don't have to beg for it, Himeko."

"Right! Haha, let's go then. Nice weather, isn't it?

Himeko talked to Mei obviously elated.

"HEY! Don't talk to each other like I don't even exist! You too, Mei!"

Yuzu protested.

Mei glanced at her once and proceeded walking toward the subway platform, showing no interest.

Himeko grinned as she somehow had a chance meeting with Mei and was going to spend some time together. Yuzu looked displeased but did not say anything.

The three school girls walked down to the platform.

The day with Mei was just starting for both Himeko and Yuzu. And neither of them was planning to miss a single bit of it.


	5. Chapter 5 - Give and take

**A/N: Hi, thank you for reading my work.**

**The following wiki explains Himeko's character very well, which I mostly agree with:**

**/1D1weOs It's tvtropes wiki about Citrus Characters.**

**I didn't base my Himeko on this wiki, though, because I found this wiki just a few days ago.**

**I might consult this wiki in my writing from now on.**

**Harumi's character is very well described in the wiki too, so a fanfic. about Harumi that I had initially planned to write in the future might be based on this wiki as well.**

**I'm not feeling very well these days, and I think it affected my writing a bit too.**

**Hopefully I get back to being healthy again and bring you guys better pieces to read.**

**Again, thanks for reading this piece, I love you all.**

**Warning: This chapter is written with Yuzu's POV.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

* * *

**POV: Yuzu-ish**

Shopping was great.

But shopping can only be as good as Mei, which is, by all means, god darn incredible.

As Mei and Yuzu(mostly Yuzu) initially planned, they went for clothing stores first.

Most of the times when Yuzu was at the mall, picking clothes was a very serious business and she looked through the shops very intensely.

Today, though, there were two HUGE distractions for her to concentrate on buying, the pleasant one being Mei and the unpleasant one Himeko.

It was 2 second-discrepancy of switching between daydream and battle stance.

It was INTENSE to a whole nother level.

"Mei! I've found a good one for you, you should try it on!"

Said Yuzu cheerfully.

"I've got a good one here too! Try this after that one."

Hastily added Himeko.

"I thought you were the one who wanted to get new clothes."

Responded Mei to Yuzu.

"But you don't come out here often to buy clothes! As we happen to be in the mall right now, I will pick your clothes for you. You know, as your elder sis!"

Yuzu tried to look cool but her smile was awkward and her lips were trembling.

'Why did I say elder sis? You know she doesn't like it when I play the elder sister. Nonono, keep it cool, everything's fine.'

Yuzu tried to calm herself down.

Himeko shot Yuzu a glare as she heard Yuzu refer to herself as the elder sister. Mei, on the other hand, did not seem to mind.

'Score! Wait, is it?'

Yuzu thought to herself, a bit confused.

"...Fine, but I will buy just one thing today as I did not plan to buy anything."

Quietly responded Mei.

"No, don't worry, Mei, I will pay for it! I am the one who dragged you out here after all!"

Yuzu felt her face glowing red.

Whatever Yuzu does, regardless of how much she does it for Mei, it never seemed enough to Yuzu and she always felt like she owed Mei her life.

It was an odd feeling that she has never had before.

It was pretty much the same for Himeko.

As Himeko was trying to say something, she was interrupted by another girl's voice.

"Hey! Yuzu-ne chan!"

A junior high school girl called Matsuri and walked fast towards the three girls.

"Matsuri chan! Wow, it's been a while!"

Yuzu also walked toward Matsuri, and she and Matsuri talked for a moment forgetting about the rest two girls.

Which turned out to be a mistake, because when Yuzu looked back to check on Mei and Himeko, there were gone.

Yuzu panicked and checked her phone.

There was Mei's text saying she and Himeko will have lunch separately.

"Mei noooo whhyy?!"

Yuzu yelled so followed by a little weeping.

"Hey! Don't get all depressed just because Mei-ne chan is gone. Do I not count for anything at all?"

Said Matsuri pouting a little bit.

"Oh, I'm sorry Matsuri! Of course that's not the case. Aren't you hungry? Why don't we go grab a bite?"

Sincerely said Yuzu, feeling awfully guilty.

Matsuri was her precious childhood friend and almost like a cute little sister who she always adored.

"I'd love that!"

Matsuri replied ecstatically and linking her arms with Yuzu's, her pout long gone.

'My glorious Saturday date with Mei is gone...'

Yuzu grieved inside.

The two separate pairs were formed, as the day was lead to take a new turn for Yuzu and Himeko.

.

.

.


	6. Chapter 6 - Middle of the bridge 1

POV: Himeko

Shopping itself can be a hassle, all the more so with the blonde. Although, a bad company still is a company. Deep inside Himeko felt bad that she ditched Yuzu, maybe her soon-to-be friend.

Anyway, it's all behind her now, a Saturday date with Mei was on!

Himeko and Mei shortly left the mall and walked into a cafeteria located just beside the mall called Koko Ichiban Ya. It was a popular Japanese curry chain that uses the same sauce for every manu. Diversity was not their biggest selling point to say the least. But Mei and Himeko had lovely old memories with their curry where Mei's mother used to take them here often when they went out on weekends. It was this exact place too.

Mei and Himeko, as usual, ordered Fried Chicken Curry and Vegetable Curry, respectively. They did not eat here often these days anyway, about once a month, thus no point picking anything other than their favorites. Maybe they will never change like this, Himeko thought.

They ate in a very comfortable silence.

'Yea, this is what I have on Yuzu. She will never have this bond with Mei.'

A little smile appeared on Himeko's face. A warm sensation bloomed inside Himeko's heart, heating up her entire body.

"Himeko?"

Said Mei with a questioning look.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll finish it up now."

Getting out of her trance, Himeko hastily responded.

"It's alright, take your time."

Mei said it indifferently, yet with a very tiny glimpse of a caring look.

"Ok."

Himeko smiled and resumed eating.

After dinner.

The two girls walked on a bridge. The bridge was a very long one, known for its probably best night city view in Japan, which was just another familiar place for Mei and Himeko.

As the sky got dark with the clock indicating it's past 8:00, the mild spring breezes got a bit chilly, but the night of the city started to reveal its magnificent flamboyancy.

Decorated with lights coming out of skyscrapers and lengthy lines of cars on the roads was everywhere across the entire city, and they could see it all from where they were standing.

In the middle of a long bridge, the two girls walked on petals of cherry blossom in late spring. Some awkward contrast between man-made and natural beauties it was. Himeko, however, appreciated every bit of it like it was a work of Rembrandt. Or maybe it was all Mei, which Himeko may(or mei) willingly agree with.

They stopped for a moment as they usually do whenever they come out here on the bridge. Reason was always not clear, but they just did.

Even with all that glamorous view and her uplifted mood, however, Himeko could not resist her urge to break the silence. She usually did so when she's in a romantic mood, even though quiet atmosphere would do way more magic than talking at times like that. 'Old habits die hard,' thought Himeko before she opened up the conversation.

"Mei."

Himeko called her life companion in a mild tone.

Having been called, Mei slightly diverted her gaze from the empty space that she found among the packed sight, and directed it halfway towards Himeko as a response, saying no words.

"Can I ask you something?"

Mei still gave her no spoken responses but Himeko could read her approving look.

Himeko inhaled as calmly as she could before she said

"What do you think of Aihara Yuzu?"

.

.

.

.

**A/N 1 : Despair often takes over the 99 % of time while in a one-sided love, yet nobody really gives up on it because the rest 1 % consists of uttermost **

**happiness. But what will await Himeko?**

**A/N 2: So, how do you like this chapter?**

**Give me your thoughts on it.**

**Every review can be informative, advisory, and most of all encouraging to me personally !**

**Your opinion DOES count, so do not hesitate to talk to me, or even educate me, if you would :)**

**I understand you probably prefer to keep the story separated from the author, and if so, thanks anyway and enjoy it as you were !**


	7. Chapter 7 - Middle of the bridge 2

**POV: Himeko**

"What do you think of Aihara Yuzu?"

Himeko threw the question in the air, looking at the sky.

No response came back from Mei. Himeko turned her head to find Mei gaping a bit.

'Talk about the elephant in the room...'

Himeko thought to herself. She started to feel the tension forming between them but she did not want to back down at this point.

A few minutes went past fruitless.

It was beginning to occur to Himeko that maybe Mei was oblivious of her own feelings as much as Himeko was. When she was wondering if she should take back on her inquiry, Mei spoke.

"What do you mean?"

"Huh?"

"What do you mean what do I think of Yuzu?"

"What I'm asking is..."

Hesitation dropped upon Himeko.

'How do you ask if she wants to have some of that sister pie without sounding too weird? Or if she wants 50 shades of Yuzu...oh GOD, what am I thinking! I did not plan for any of this!'

While Himeko was panicking or having her time inside, Mei's sigh concluded all the mental rackus in Himeko's mind.

"Yuzu is my sister, nothing more, if that's what you were asking."

The words were bluntly thrown by the brunette. She sounded cold but a bit of stress was put on the word 'sister' as in she was trying to convince herself. Or maybe it was just Himeko trying to make out something out of nothing.

"Are you sure?"

"I am sure."

That was as far as Himeko could go for now. Pursuing it further would not jeopardize their friendship, she firmly believed, but she did not want Mei to do a deep-thinking over it.

Probably because the result will not be in favor of Himeko. Himeko got depressed a bit by the thought.

They were lost for words for a while, or Himeko was.

Mei was a girl of no words. She can be at a party or hanging with her friends, yet she would not talk unless asked to.

'But I shouldn't complain,' Himeko thought.

Himeko was the one who knew where all of Mei's attitudes coming from.

Being a meddling childhood friend might sound heartwarming and all great in concept but it is tough to actually be one, especially to be of Mei because most of time Mei looked like she did not need anything at all.

You have to have a really good eye to catch apposite moments to give Mei a hand otherwise she will just say no.

Himeko felt proud of herself for being capable of it.

"Himeko."

"Yes?"

Himeko startled a bit as it felt like Mei was chastising her for self-conceitedly thinking Himeko herself being a help at all. Guilty conscience.

"We should head back, it's almost 10:00 PM."

"Right, let's go."

They left the bridge and walked to subway station.

There was no single star in the sky of the city. Just the pitch dark emptiness filled the space. Himeko sighed inaudibly.

Himeko reached home without knowing how. She got ready for bed swiftly and lay herself in bed. Himeko's bed was packed with stuffed animals providing enough fluffiness, yet none of which helped brighten up Himeko's mood today. Himeko still felt lonely and her heart felt heavy.

One person would suffice to change that. And that was one thing she could not achieve in her life. Himeko did not know where to direct this frustration. No other than stuffed animals were there to get it this time. They were useful in more ways than one to the girl.

Himeko's unappreciated heart slowly drifted into sleep.

.

.

.

**A/N: Sister pie.**

**This word genuinely came out of my head.**

**So, will this story ever go down that road of pie? I don't know.**

**Do I want to craft such scenes for this fanfic?**

**I'll do it if I manage to get it right.**


	8. Chapter 8 - One Monday morning

POV: Yuzu -ish

[6:00 AM, Monday]

.

Saturday was a disaster.

Mei and Yuzu had originally planned to shop and walk around the town just two of them alone.

Little did she know an evil intervention was going to happen where Himeko, and then Matsuri jumped into the scene and eventually had Mei away from Yuzu for the day. It was painful.

The girl, Matsuri, that Yuzu hadn't seen in a while turned out to be...well...a piece of work to be honest.

Matsuri once was just a cute baby girl who would follow Yuzu around everywhere. And that girl was gone for good.

Of course Matsuri was still like a cute little sister to Yuzu. But after Matsuri and Yuzu got separated from Mei and Himeko, she was all over Yuzu's waist, face, chest and everything, it was too much to handle.

Her having unreasonable jealousy towards Mei was another problem. Mei and Matsuri just did not seem to get along. Which was a shame because both were family to Yuzu.

Yuzu spent the rest of that day missing Mei and dealing with a handful of cute little devil, Matsuri. It was tiring.

.

When Yuzu opened her eyes today in the morning, however, she realised something.

That she gets to sleep right next to the girl who she has a massive crush on. Every, day.

'Literally nobody gets to do this in life.' Yuzu thought.

Looking at Mei's backhead, and hearing her beloved younger sister breathing regularly in her sleep...the two have been doing it for months, yet Yuzu still could not get over how dreamy the whole situation was.

Yuzu would look at Mei's silky hair adoringly, yet she could not dare to touch it.

Every now and then whenever Yuzu gets up earlier than Mei, Yuzu just looked at her sleeping beauty of sister like this until she wakes up.

At this point, Yuzu knew every move Mei takes after she first opens her eyes in the morning.

Once Mei wakes up, Yuzu usually kept her eyes shut to pretend she was asleep.

Yuzu guessed what Mei was doing just with the sounds and felt Mei's eyes on her occasionally. Yuzu sure treasured every moment of it.

It was not lost on Yuzu, however, all that could sound very creepy to some especially considering it was no other than her own (step) sister that Yuzu was drooling all over.

But like a certain song says, only god could judge her.

"Hey."

Mei spoke as she finished getting dressed.

Yuzu jumped inwardly at that but pretended she was still not awake. Shoot, maybe Mei could judge her, too.

"If you want to come, hurry up and get ready. I can't wait for long."

"Wait, I'm coming!"

Yuzu realised she was caught pretending asleep and hastily got dressed.

"Ah, come on, Mei. At least wait until I've done the basic make-up."

"Just put on sunscreen, that'll be enough."

"Whaaaat? Alright, alright, I got it."

Yuzu pouted as she answered.

But Yuzu was elated, for Mei recently has got a bit wordy around her. It has got to be a good sign for their relationship.

Yuzu has been skipping her breakfast for a while now, as Mei wasted no time eating and just bolted out of the house every morning.

But then again, what in the world could possibly be healthier than heading out of the house in the morning with your crush?

THAT has to be the best thing you can ask for in life.

'Or this, THIS has to be. Because it's happening to me now.'

Yuzu smiled.

Hell, she might as well be skipping school if that was what it took to be with Mei.

Happy thoughts aside, they went out.

"I'm heading out."

"See ya, mom!"

Mei and Yuzu notified their leave, respectively.

.

.

.

**POV: Mei**

[6:30 AM, the same Monday]

It was a usual morning. I woke up without the alarm and got off the bed right away.

It was almost painful moving around the body with the low energy but last week's student council work was left unfinished, so I had to go now.

Ignoring all the fatigue draining the whole body, I washed up and got dressed as fast as I could.

Breakfast was out of the question, so I was about to leave right away, before looking to the sleeping girl.

Her sleeping feature was usually peaceful, even overly peaceful.

It became a routine that I take in the scene of the girl sleeping with no worries in the world.

Even doing it just for a few seconds was enough for me to maintain a certain level of sanity. The scene always brought a humanly feeling to the viewer.

Except today she looked a little bit off. Forgetting I was in hurry, I went for a longer watch out of curiosity. Then, I saw Yuzu's eyes tremble for a moment.

'Is she awake and yet trying to keep her eyes shut?'

I spent a few more seconds observing before sighing.

'Silly girl.'

Yet, it was somewhat comforting to watch.

I checked the time and was about to leave, but changed my mind and turned back to Yuzu.

'As she has already woken up, I might as well have her come with me now. She might even be late if I leave her be.'

"Hey."

I called to her. Her shoulders twitched, but no answer came back.

'Are you a child...'

"If you want to come, hurry up and get ready. I can't wait for long."

"Wait, I'm coming!"

The response came rather quickly this time.

Thinking Yuzu would follow soon enough, I just walked out of the room.

"Ah, come on, Mei. At least wait until I've done the basic make-up."

Yuzu seemed to have misunderstood that I would just leave her behind.

I, however, did not bother correcting her as I was in hurry.

"Just put on sunscreen, that'll be enough."

"Whaaaat? Alright, alright, I got it."

I stared at her who was trying to properly apply sunscreen with the little time she had.

Her facial appearance was not half bad without makeup.

Starting a day this way was not half bad.

Starting a day with her was not half bad.

"I'm heading out."

"See ya, mom!"

And starting a day with her everyday, as long as we can, would not be half bad.

That I thought and never spoke of.

.

.

.

.

.

.

A/N: Thanks for reading.

I tried first person point of view for Mei.

It is very meaningful that I did it because Mei has been always secretive and her true nature is veiled even at this point of the original manga.

I'd initially avoided indicating Mei's feelings in my writing because the original manga did not provide much information about her personality and I had too much respect for the work to cook up my own version of her.

But as the new chapter(16) of manga came out and Mei appeared somewhat humanly, I thought it was time that I showed humanly feelings of Mei in my writing as well. All things considered, my version of Mei is not much of an aberration from the manga Mei.

.

.

.

Another thing is that I figured my vocab is quite limited especially when it comes to writing a fanfic.

To resolve the issue, I'm utilizing GRE flash cards to diversify my choices of words.

In fact, I'd so desired that Mei would sound very well-educated but that obviously did not work out.

It's a bit of shame that I can't manage doing so without constantly consulting dictionary.

I promise you the better quality writings as time goes by.


	9. Chapter 9 - And she falls

It's been a while, I hope you guys have been doing alright.

Thanks for reading my fanfic., and if you waited for this chapter, I'm sorry that I have made you wait for so long.

So, all that below happened in my head and I myself am surprised how it took an unexpected turn like this.

Hope this chapter finds you well.

Cheers!

* * *

POV: Himeko-ish

**.**

.

**.**

Her blonde hair, collar bones sticking out of her shirt, bracelet, and rather blunt/vulgar speaking manners.

Everything about Aihara Yuzu bothered Himeko from the beginning.

Of course, it was a lot of trouble for student council as well to have such student around on campus.

Himeko was told it was none other than Mei herself who caught Yuzu and confiscated her mobile.

'I don't know just how many students council members had to go through an ordeal because of her.'

Himeko recalled with a bittersweet smile. The blonde's presence utterly changed things around. Before her, Mei and Himeko were isolated within their own world. It was as though their time had stopped since Mei's mother's decease. Both were hurt badly then, and they went through everyday holding each other's hands as if they were trying to recover from an incurable disease together. It was debilitating, saddening, and devitalizing. Himeko thought it was their destiny to drag their forsaken souls to the end of their life somehow, just like two injured deers on the road.

Should she have realised earlier that it was only a little push that they needed, Himeko would have worked up the courage and told Mei "I'm here, and I'll always be there for you no matter what, you're going to be fine." But Yuzu did what Himeko wished she had done for Mei, always be there for Mei no matter what. And Yuzu being Mei's step sister was a bigger advantage than Himeko had ever dreamed of. It was plain unfair.

So, here she was, having Yuzu come over to her house on Saturday, as to potentially unveil the girl's exact intentions with Mei, and her 'obnoxious tricks' to go along with it all.

Himeko haphazardly walked around the living, waiting anxiously for Yuzu, who was late by about 10 minutes.

'That annoying blonde dares to make me wait? How arrogant and insensitive of her!'

Himeko raged inwardly.

Just as she was about to call the blonde and rant on the phone, the doorbell rang.

"M'lady, your guest has arrived."

A maid announced.

"So it seems. Let her in."

Himeko replied.

The maid ushered Yuzu in.

"Hey, Himeko chan~ Nice mansion!"

Said the visitor cheerfully.

"I don't recall allowing you to call me that," said Himeko, annoyed.

"Awwww, don't be like that~," said Yuzu.

It was hard for Himeko to comprehend the reason Yuzu often talks like some low-life douchebag who is flirting with a drunken stranger when she is around Himeko.

'You're not my friend! Well, maybe you are, but not the best friend. So don't act like you are, you idiot!'

Himeko thought to herself, maintaining her usual elegance on the outside.

"You may follow me."

Said Himeko cooly, not revealing her inner thoughts.

The two walked upstairs where Himeko's room was located.

"Man, how many steps are there? I'm dying here!"

Yuzu complained unseemingly.

"About 200 up ahead. Now climb."

Himeko instructed the girl behind her with no mercy, which attitude was followed by the blonde's yet another pitiful whining.

But little did Yuzu know, there were two, not even one, elevators in the mansion. Which Himeko had no intention to tell Yuzu until she later sees the girl out to the gate, and only then Himeko was going to announce her the fact from the other side of the gate.

'That girl deserves a good tease once in a while, seeing how cheeky she gets sometimes.'

Himeko giggled inaudibly.

They soon got into Himeko's room. In the corner there was a right-out princessy-looking bed with the canopy, lacy decorations and everything. The paintings were another eye-catch for the guests, with them being all classic and looking worth millions of dollars. There was just no way 'a commoner' like Yuzu would appreciate such artistic surroundings. The furnitures were set so that you would see the outside, downwards portraying the beautiful garden and up the sky. Everything was placed purposefully with the aesthetic considerations. Any kind of electronic device such as a big TV would not fit in. So instead, Himeko had a projector in her room. The device was specially designed to blend into the artistic environment, so Yuzu did not notice it had been there until,

"Projector on,"

Himeko called out to start the device.

"You have a freaking projector in the house?!"

Yuzu sounded shocked quite a bit.

"Yes, there are two actually. Why do you ask?"

Himeko inquired, genuinely not comprehending the reason for Yuzu's astonishment.

"Himeko, people normally don't have a projector or two laying around their house..."

Said the blonde with disbelief blatant in her eyes.

"From your reaction I presume the gadget is quite pricy. But we aren't here to discuss the matter of prosperity today, so drop the subject."

Said the young lady. The way she sees it, she was just born in a wealthy family, and she did not particularly feel proud of it. There were plenty other reasons to be proud of her family for, that she believed.

The conversation was put on hold in silent concurrence, and the room got dark as the projector was booting. The glass wall which provides the great view in the day became opaque and metamorphosed into a perfect wide screen for movie-watching. Yuzu made a face like she got herself in an alien aircraft somehow.

'Ok, she is quite fazed by the projector already. Not quite what I expected, but this should be a nice little boost. Let's get right on with the questions.'

"So, Yuzu, how do you feel about Mei and-" right about that moment, Himeko was cut off by an unfamiliar arm encircling Himeko's neck.

"Wha-, what do you think you're doing?!" It was that Yuzu who had decided to sit in zero proximity from Himeko as in, she could feel their pelvises touching side by side. "What? We are watching a film together. This is what friends normally do, right?" Yuzu stated her thoughts on the matter carefreely.

"No, this is not normal, you are way too close!"

"Oh shush, you. You're overthinking things. Let's just watch the animals, you like them, right? Oh look at that, an elephant family."

Himeko lost for words and flushed helplessly on the spot. Not only did she not expect Yuzu to be this huggy, but she also did not think she herself would get this flustered by the cuddle. Just about the moment, two elephants were coaxing each other's noses as an affectionate behavior. But none of that registered in Himeko's head as she started getting hopelessly hot and bothered.

'What is this? Am I possibly developing feelings for her? No way, I won't accept this! Mei is the one I love!' Regardless of her mental outburst of denial, the heat was not dissipating. It certainly did not ameliorate the grave state of affairs that Yuzu was wearing a pair of shorts, forcing Himeko into the sensation of the milky thigh skin through her frilly house dress. To top it off, her long hair, nape, slender limbs were mesmerizing, so much that it felt like the girl's entire existence smelled great. The poor curly-haired girl was nearly about to faint, or worse, lose herself.

"Wooo, room's heating up. I've gotta take off one layer," said Yuzu, removing her cardigan. 'Oh god.' Himeko's mind screamed for help, looking at the girl who was coming back with just a short-sleeved shirt on.


	10. Chapter 10 - Moving forward

'That was quite of an ordeal.'

Himeko somehow went through the hottest moment in her life yesterday. It was a mistake, a huge mistake, and there was no other way to describe it, that she told herself. Her heart beat in an incomprehensible manner and it felt like something was squeezing her entire being from within. An insatiable thirst loomed over her head all the time. Her mind screamed for an answer, and she did not know what the question was.

'If I let myself be involved with that blonde any longer, I will be drop dead in a week...in one way or another.'

It's her own way of accepting her feelings while making some assessment of the situation. It was nowhere near the conclusion, nor the solution. Yet, it had taken every bit of her existence to get there. The whole Yuzu business completely occupied the girl's mind,' leaving no space for anything else.

'Why? Why, of all the people, is it Yuzu?'

It was troubling. And trouble had the blonde always been and was all that she will ever be. It was not fair. Love was not fair. Then again, nothing in life is fair, Himeko thought. There was, however, one thing in particular she was bothered by more than anything. The fact that it really was a merely friendly visit for Yuzu, even though the experience was 'groundbreaking' to Himeko herself, brought her utmost insecurity. The feeling was not new to her, of course, because she had been feeling this way about Mei as long as she could remember. Unfortunately, the prior experience did not make it any easier for her.

Himeko stayed face-down on her bed the entire morning. The usually energetic and diligent girl had never in her life let a minute go to waste up until this morning. Such aberrant behavior surprised not only the maids but also her mother who was never home, being too busy out there making things happen. She even took her precious time to check on her daughter, and sat beside her little girl in bed.

"Himeko, are you okey? I heard you have been in bed all morning, and even skipped breakfast."

Said the lady in a suit, with her soft hand running through her beloved daughter's curly hair.

"Mother, you're here! I am very sorry to have caused you trouble. I'll get changed right away."

Said Himeko sitting up hastily.

"Don't worry, I'm just here to see my daughter. You can rest more if you'd like."

Those very words were exactly what Himeko needed to hear at that moment, she had not known she did, until they actually came into existence before her. She felt her eyes getting watery. The mother gazed upon her distressed daughter with concern, letting her into her arms. Himeko stayed in her mother's warmth for a while, and pulled herself into sanity again.

"Thanks, mother. I feel much better now.'

"Anytime for you, sweetie."

It might have been a day for her to let pass without moving forward. She was now ready to take on whatever was awaiting her. With her mother's little encouragement, the young girl decided to take action right away.

Himeko picked up her cellphone and dialed the number.

Yuzu and Mei

POV: Mei-ish

The same Sunday

Yuzu and Mei went for a little walk together in the morning, which was pretty unusual for them.

The weather was nice, birds were out chirping, and there was a heart shaped cloud in the sky as if the universe is working in Yuzu's favor. The girl with the blonde hair glistening like there was a halo on top of her head had been looking forward to this day for the whole last week.

The original plan that she had in mind was to ask her beloved step sister out on a date that may involve the two visiting the aquarium and having a great time there. She had been thinking maybe, and only maybe, she could reach out her hand to grab Mei's.

They found stray kittens on their way. Yuzu stopped and looked at them adoringly, getting totally engulfed in their cuteness,whereas Mei was eager to get home as soon as possible to finish her work at home.

As an attempt to make Yuzu to follow her, said Mei "I'm going," which surely did enough for Yuzu to do exactly what Mei expected of her, follow her with a little whining.

They swiftly arrived home as Mei had desired. Yuzu buried herself in the sofa and turned on the TV, chilling as the way she liked. Mei, on the other hand, liked to read in solitude. Today, however, Mei sat in the sofa beside Yuzu on a whim by which the blonde got caught off guard.

Mei felt a glance from Yuzu at whom she would not look back. Mei curled up into a ball, not interested in what was on the TV. She sipped in the comfortable atmosphere that befell them.

Her companion, however, began fidgeting. In the midst of half-consciousness, Mei understood the reason her sister would get anxious around her. Yuzu was just too telling. For what it is worth, more often than not, Mei found comfort in her naiveness and honesty.

Finding courage in herself, Yuzu reached out her hand slowly to Mei, almost to touch Mei's chin while the girl was looking like a fallen angel just by existing. Yuzu's hand then stopped. She decided to just enjoy taking in the scene rather than fulfill her merely temperamental inner salivation.

Soon Mei opened her eyes, slowly, yet without a warning. Yuzu jumped and turned her head to avert Mei's gaze.

Mei took her time to stare at her sister with no expression on her angelic face.

An unexpected smile appeared on the brunette's face, and Yuzu was melting looking at it. Right about the moment the blonde was reaching out her hand to Mei's cheek-

(-Ring Ring-)

"Oh shi...!"

Yuzu jumped and exclaimed at the sound of the house phone ringing.

"Ah, um, hello?"

The older sister picked up the phone when Mei opened her eyes and lifted herself off the sofa and left the living room and to her room without a word. All Yuzu could do was watch her dear sister leaving the sofa with a disappointed face.

"Hello, this is Momokino Himeko calling."

A familiar voice with her reserved and polite tone was heard through the phone.

"Yea, it's me. What's up? Do you want me to get Mei for you?"

Said Yuzu, automatically assuming Himeko was calling for Mei, but to her surprise-

"No, I want to talk to you about something, Aihara Yuzu."

"Oh, ok. What is it, Himeko?"

Himeko paused for a moment.

'Ok, I am ready, let's do this.'

The drill-haired girl told herself.

"Can you spare some time to talk tomorrow? I have an important matter to discuss."

'Wait, what the hell was that? An important matter?! Get a grip of yourself, Himeko!'

Himeko inwardly yelled at herself.

"Discuss? With me? Alright then. Ummm, maybe we meet up at lunch, then?"

"That sounds good, we'll see each other then."

The conversation ended pronto, while bringing many a through to Yuzu.

Yuzu held onto the lingering emotions for a while, thinking of what Himeko said which lasted only for so long, and then quickly moved onto how godlike was Mei's sleeping figure. She started on dinner for two dwelling on the image of Mei.

As Mei liked anything that had chicken in it, Yuzu decided to make chicken curry for Mei and chicken salad for herself as she was on a diet.

Mei walked into the kitchen as Yuzu was chopping up chicken parts. Mei asked "What are you doing?" Yuzu told her she was making curry for her sister and salad for herself.

Mei said she will have the same thing as Yuzu because salad would be easier and quicker to make.

Soon after, they had dinner under comfortable silence. After doing the dishes, the two went back to their shared room.

It used to be Yuzu's routine to go for a walk after dinner and take her sweet time outside, sometimes hanging with friends.

Now, however, she replaced her 'exercise routine' to a set of stretching workouts and joined her little sister with studying shortly after. How love changes a stubborn teenage girl with dyed hair. On top of that, Yuzu ranked within the top hundred in last midterm thanks to her daily study session.

Yuzu's mother was ecstatic to find out about her test results and asked Yuzu what happened, to which Yuzu responded it was all thanks to Mei.

Mei attributed everything to Yuzu's hard work, and went to her room. It was one of the girl's graceful traits of which only her family members were aware. The known-to-be ice princess was a kindest person in reality, a delicate girl with a warm and soft heart, and it never ceased to amaze Yuzu when the brunette uncovered her true self time to time in front of her. There was a beauty in that humble and reserved kindness.

They studied for a while before going to sleep.

Yuzu stayed up until around 11:00 PM, then she passed out on the desk.

Mei saw it, and called out to Yuzu trying to wake her up. Having failed at it, she put her sister in bed and resumed her study. Her review session went on until 12:00 AM and laid herself in bed. Mei mindlessly gazed at her sister's sleeping profile and fell asleep soon after.

A/N: Hello again! It's been a loooong while.

I was working on two different chapters but the progress was too slow. When I was about done with the chapters I thought they were too short. So I merged them into one.

Hope you have enjoyed this one and hopefully, I'll see you guys soon :)


	11. Chapter 11 - Moving forward 2

The next morning.

The weather was nice. Yuzu found it easier to wake up in the morning when the sun is out brightly. While she could handle rainy weathers fine, cloudy weathers were the worst as she just could not find the energy to start the day. So it was a good thing the weather was nice with many things ahead. Yuzu and Mei went to school as usual and sat in their classroom waiting for the first class to start. Yuzu recalled she was supposed to meet Himeko today. It was probably best if they set the exact time and place beforehand. So she texted Himeko to verify the time and the place, and the reply came shortly saying that they should meet up after 12:30 pm at the garden and talk over lunch. 'Wait, are we going to have lunch, two of us alone? What is going on here?' The whole thing felt weirder and weirder. It has never occurred to Yuzu that Himeko and she would talk one on one because although they got along just fine, they had never really got to the point where they could confidently call each other a friend. It may just be that Himeko really wanted to build a proper friendship with her, and Yuzu was open to the idea. 'I guess it's ok,' Yuzu thought to herself. Now that the schedule has been set, there was another big thing she needed to take care of. Tell Harumi, the closest friend of hers, that she will be not eating lunch with her today like they did always. Yuzu thought about giving Harumi various kinds of excuses. However, not only did she hate the idea of basically lying to her best friend, but she also could not come up with the good excuses. After doing some thinking, Yuzu decided to be straight with Harumi and tell her exactly what happened. That Himeko wants to discuss something with her in private so they decided to do so over lunch. So Yuzu told Harumi just that. Harumi furrowed for a moment but gave Yuzu a playful response with a smile saying "She's always been giving you trouble but now she wants to steal you from me?" They exchanged a few more friendly banters after that. With all things considered, it all turned out alright. Now she would attend the classes without worries. It was until the beginning of the 4th period that she paid attention in class with no problem, and then a little thought came across her mind when they were about 10 minutes in of history class. The idea that her beloved sister Mei might spot Yuzu having lunch with Himeko in the unlikely event of…'What am I exactly worried about?' She could not make out a swirling vortex of uncertainty in her mind. The chance of such event happening was pretty much next to nothing. Not only that, she had nothing to hide from Mei about this. Yet, her intuition told her that it would be better if she avoids being seen by Mei during lunch. There was another reason Yuzu was this much distracted. She did not particularly enjoy her time in history class. It was not that she disliked history altogether, she liked to hear about historic events and watch history documentaries. For her, history was great only as storytelling.

12:30 pm came quickly enough as Yuzu was busy justifying the reason for her to be distracted. Yuzu headed to the sliding door of the classroom. She looked back at Harumi before completely leaving the room, which gesture was returned by a reassuring smile and hand-waving. Yuzu smiled herself and went off to the school garden. The garden had a few benches so that students could sit down and chat, or have lunch. The young girls did frequent the place to chat after having lunch, but not as often to have lunch there. Himeko and Yuzu had a little less than an hour window of time to converse in private. Himeko arrived soon after Yuzu did.

"Hey," Yuzu greeted the girl.

"Hi," Himeko replied.

They sat down on the bench. Yuzu opened the lid of her lunch box, Himeko did not. Yuzu turned her head to Himeko wondering what was going on. Himeko kept her silence, staring at her lunch box laid on her laps.

"Himeko?"

Yuzu asked, realizing she was up for something serious.

"Yea," Himeko uttered still looking at her lunch box.

"I'm sorry, it seems I have to get this out before eating."

Himeko lifted her head and locked eyes with Yuzu.

Yuzu was lost for words. The situation was intensifying in a ridiculous pase. What exactly brought them here? She did not have the slightest idea.

"I…" Himeko started talking regardless of Yuzu's confusion.

"I might have fallen for you."

It was a confession, straight-forward It cleared things out for Yuzu. Even though she had not believed that this was what Himeko was up to this, the idea that this might happen was in the back of her head all this time since she received a call from Himeko. She could analyze the situation coolly, which surprised herself more than the confession itself.

"Ok, I'll listen, why don't we have a bite while we talk, though?" Yuzu started eating as she said it. Himeko's eyes widened, but she followed Yuzu shortly. More than 10 minutes passed without talking. Both of them ate giving each other a chance to talk, but neither of them uttered a word. Finally they both finished eating. After taking a few more minutes to keep food down, Yuzu spoke first.

"If you want to tell me more about your feelings, I will listen, but to be honest, I don't know what I feel about this."

Silence fell on them again.

"If there is nothing else you want to say, I'll go back to my classroom."

As Yuzu closed the lid of the lunch box, Himeko reached out her hand to put it on Yuzu's.

"Thank you, this is it for now."

HImeko's voice was a little bit shaking but she kept her smile on her face. She stayed like that for a few more seconds and left, not looking back. 'What are you thanking me for?' Yuzu went back to her classroom thinking about what happened.

A/N: Thanks for reading!

A comment I received recently really encouraged me a lot to write this chapter, so thank you.

This story is a little contribution that I make to the world… :)


End file.
